Here’s something about a Zimbabwean winter—the impossibly blue skies, the clean snap in the air—that makes every horizon feel a little closer. That same clarity runs through this issue.

Our cover comes from mist-draped Troutbeck Resort in the Eastern Highlands, where we spent a weekend tracing new walking trails, sampling coffee by the lake and photographing a certain vintage orange Beetle that seems to pop up wherever the views are best. Turn to page 8 for the full story of Troutbeck’s quiet revival.

Swing northwest and you’ll find fresh energy at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. The just-opened Queen Nandi Place brings contemporary Zimbabwean design and breathtaking views worthy of a pause button. December will see the debut of Newmark’s Bupenyu Lodge on the Zambezi—proof that the river never stops reinventing itself.

Our roving writer Katrina traded creature comforts for wild country on her journey to remote Mongwe. Her dispatch is equal parts adventure log and love letter to community conservancies. In Bulawayo, 10 on Pauling is rewriting the boutique-hotel playbook with ten art-filled suites tucked inside the city’s industrial bones.

Because winter is safari prime time— low grass, crisp mornings, stars you can almost touch—we’ve compiled our favourite cold-season bush escapes, from budget-friendly camps to spoilyourself lodges. Pack a beanie; you won’t need the rain fly.

And finally, the calendar is already circling Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo. Stands are being built, pitches polished and passports from our international guests dusted off. We’ll be there to glean the trends that will carry us into 2026. 

Wherever you open these pages— curled beside a fireplace in Nyanga or basking in sunshine on the Lowveld plains—I hope they spark your next journey